98th Bomb Wing Reunion and 99th BGHS Honor Ploesti ......98th Bomb Wing Reunion and 99th BGHS Honor...
5
98 th Bomb Wing Reunion and 99 th BGHS Honor Ploesti Veterans, Shreveport Louisiana, October 2011 By Lorraine Henning Kiewiet* Over a four-day period in October 2011, in a Holiday Inn on the “Other Side of Louisiana,” I continued my journey to hear the stories that my father (James Henning 99BG 416BS, with 4232074 OH! JOSIE photo below) didn’t tell me about being a member of a World War II Army-Air Force B-17 bomber crew. The more I hear, the more I understand why he did not want to talk about it! And the more I want to connect with these wonderful veterans and keepers of America’s captivating WWII history. It’s a miracle that I’m here today based on research I have done. My dad has passed on, but the affinities I share with these others somehow bring me closer to the side of my dad I never knew. The combined reunion highlights were meeting with the Veterans, the exhibits provided by the Air Force Historical Society, and the trip to Barksdale Air Force Base. The exhibit in the hotel ballroom was organized by Robert Coalter, a director of the Army Air Corps Library and Museum. You can contact Robert at (214) 957-1393, or [email protected]. Visit their website at www.ArmyAirCorpsMuseum.org. The museum accepts donations of uniforms, medals, equipment, personal items, paperwork, books, photos, etc. from the era of the Army Air Corps.
Transcript of 98th Bomb Wing Reunion and 99th BGHS Honor Ploesti ......98th Bomb Wing Reunion and 99th BGHS Honor...
98thBombWingReunionand99thBGHSHonorPloestiVeterans,ShreveportLouisiana,October2011
ByLorraineHenningKiewiet*
Overafour-dayperiodinOctober2011,inaHolidayInnonthe“OtherSideofLouisiana,”Icontinuedmyjourneytohearthestoriesthatmyfather(JamesHenning99BG416BS,with4232074OH!JOSIEphotobelow)didn’ttellmeaboutbeingamemberofaWorldWarIIArmy-AirForceB-17bombercrew.ThemoreIhear,themoreIunderstandwhyhedidnotwanttotalkaboutit!AndthemoreIwanttoconnectwiththesewonderfulveteransandkeepersofAmerica’scaptivatingWWIIhistory.It’samiraclethatI’mheretodaybasedonresearchIhavedone.Mydadhaspassedon,buttheaffinitiesIsharewiththeseotherssomehowbringmeclosertothesideofmydadIneverknew.
ThecombinedreunionhighlightsweremeetingwiththeVeterans,theexhibitsprovidedbytheAirForceHistoricalSociety,andthetriptoBarksdaleAirForceBase.
TheexhibitinthehotelballroomwasorganizedbyRobertCoalter,adirectoroftheArmyAirCorpsLibraryandMuseum.YoucancontactRobertat(214)957-1393,orrc@armyaircorpsmuseum.org.Visittheirwebsiteatwww.ArmyAirCorpsMuseum.org.Themuseumacceptsdonationsofuniforms,medals,equipment,personalitems,paperwork,books,photos,etc.fromtheeraoftheArmyAirCorps.
Theballroomexhibitincludeddifferentuniformswornbythemen,aswellasenlargedphotographsofthedifferentPloestiraidergroups.Therewereseveralscrapbooksofmemorabilia—photosanddiarypages.
Thepurposeofthe99thBombGroupHistoricalSociety(BGHS)istopreserveandspreadthehistoryofthe99thBGandthecriticalroletheyplayedinhelpingtopreserveourfreedomduringWWII.
Undertheumbrellaofthe99thBGHS(atax-exemptnot-for-profit501(c)(3)organization),thereistheFriendsofthe99thtoenablemembersandotherpartiestomoreeasilymakefinancialandmaterialdonationstothe99thBGHS.TheFriendsofthe99thwillprovideanacknowledgmentofyourdonation,fortaxpurposesandasapermanentrecordofyourcontribution.
Contactthe99thBGHSforanopportunitytodiscussallyouroptions(e.g.passontofamily;donatetoalocalmuseum;donatetotheFriendsofthe99th;etc.andtheywillworkwithyoutopreserveyourmaterialsandyourhistoryforposterity,andforthe99thBGHS.Thewebsiteforthe99thBombGroupHistoricalSociety(BGHS)iswww.99BombGroup.org
AsouvenirpinIreceivedatthereunionshowstheB-17saboveandtheB-24sflyinglow.Thereweremanysouvenirteeshirts,jackets,caps,etc.availableforB-24group.ThewebsitefortheB-24Ploestiraidergroupishttp://www.459bg.org/.
The 99th BGHS also sponsors mini-reunions, and subsidized member prices for various 99th BG memorabilia such as hats, squadron patches, bumper stickers, and the 99th BGHS Historical Calendar. They also are selling for $50.00, to members only, the last copies available of "The Diamondbacks - The History of the 99th Bomb Group (H)".
Thenwegatheredintheballroomforpresentationsandimpromptusharingofstoriesfromtheveterans.Afterthat,agroupphotoaspartiallyshownabove.Onlytwo99thBGHSveteranswereabletobethere,CharlesSteffens(348BS)andHalGrant(346BS).Inthephotoabove,Charlesisinthetoprow,thirdfromtheleft.Charlesattendedwithhisdaughter.Heispicturedinthe99thBGHSbook“TheDiamondbacks”onpage53.
TheBarksdaleAirForceBasetourwasawindyone!Theweatherwassunnyandbright,butfewofuscouldwithstandthehighwindsforverylongtoenjoytheup-closelookattheB-52thatwasavailabletous.Wewereofferedtheopportunitytoclimbintoit,butfrankly,mostofusjustwantedtogetinoutofthewindyweather.Therewere57B-52’slineduporinhangarsatBarksdaleAFB.Theycanflyaroundtheglobewithoutrefueling,andtheiryoungcrewisfullytrainedtocarrynuclearweapons.Buttheyalsoenjoydoing“fly-overs”(unarmed)forsportsevents.AftertheB-52tour,wehadlunchintheenlistedmen’sbanquethall.Ateachtable,youngAirForcemenandwomenwerewelcomingandsohappytomeetthevets.Forourdepartingnight,BarksdaleAFBinvitedusbackforaBBQattheOfficers’hall.AirForceservicemengrilledbeautifulsteakstoorder!Inside,therewasthesaladbar,adultbeveragebar,andsuchgreatcompanionship.
Historicalnote:Ploesti,Romaniawaswherethecommercialrefinementofoilbeganin1857.Ploestiwasthefirstcityintheworldtotapintotheearth’soilriches.AfterthefirstyearofWWII,Ploestirefinerieswereproducingnearlyamilliontonsofoilamonth—40%ofRomania’sexportsandthehighestoctane(90)aviationfuelinEurope.ThisrefinerysuppliedHitlerwithanywherefromonethirdtotwo-thirdsofwhatwasneededto
fueltheNaziwarmachine.Hitlerhadahugeoilrefineryandoilreserves.ThisoilwasbroughtupfromLibyaandstoredheretohelpHitler’stroopsinsouthernEurope.
AsidetripforourgroupincludedvisitingthemusichallwhereElvisPresleymadehisdebut,andallofthecountrywesternstarsoftheradioeracouldbeseenlive,on-stage,for25cents.Afterthat,wehadanauthenticCajunlunch.
HalGrant(99BG346BS)andhiswifeBertgiecanbeseenseatedontherightendofthefirsttableattheleftofthephotoabove.
ThePloestiraiderswerechargedwithdepartingfromtheirbaseinBenghazi(thehometownofformerLibyandictatorMoamarKhadfi)andflyingmorethan2,100milestotakeoutthePloestitargets.TheobjectivewastoeliminateHitler’senergysupplyandstalltheNaziwarmachine.WhentheAllieshadbasesinItaly,the15thAirForcewasbasedinFoggia,Italy.The99thBGflew13missionsfromTortorellaFieldtoPloestistartingonApril5,1944andthefinalmissionwasonAugust18,1944.Duringthisperiodareviewofour99thBGHSdatabaselistssevenaircraftlost(4238207,42107000,4232035,42106991,42106995,4232028,4232068)onthesemissionsoverPloesti.
ThecombinedPloestiraidswerefirstconductedwiththe98thBombWingofearlyB-24lowlevelflightsclosetothegroundin1943,andlaterin1944withtheB-17sflyingataltitudehighabove.Thus,theearlylowlevelflightshopedtheNazigrounddefensecouldbeconfusedastohowtodefendthesite.
Whenwewatchthemovie“TheLongestDay”andwewatchtheNazihighbrassscramblingtofindoutwhythetanksarenotbeingmovedaroundtogettoNormandy,theansweris,“theywereoutofgas!”becauseofthePloestiRaiders,becauseofourB-17sfromthe99thBombGroup.
*99thBGHSEditor’sNote:Thisarticlehasbeeneditedtoprovideadditionalinformationonthe99thBGHS.
